WNBA Finals: Who Should Liberty Fans Root For?
For the first time since 2022, New York Liberty fans are free during the WNBA's Finals fracas.
A third visit to the Finals, and a second consecutive championship, was denied to the Liberty by the Phoenix Mercury, who will tip-off the 2025 series against the Las Vegas Aces this weekend. It'll be the first best-of-seven set in the championship series' near-three-decade history and one that will serve the culmination of a thrilling campaign before intensive labor negotiations get underway to resolve the collective bargainning agreement that expires on Oct. 31.
In which corner should Liberty fans temporarily reside? Liberty on SI makes the case for both ...
The Aces
Team: Las Vegas Aces
Last Championship: 2023
Ex-New Yorkers: Becky Hammon (head coach), Kiah Stokes
Root, Root, Root: Many Liberty fans likely rue that Hammon was never able to win a championship at Madison Square Garden, The Ring of Honor inductee has made up for lost time and then some in Sin City, as these next Finals will give her a chance to win her third in four seasons.
Things could be closed out by an appreciation of greatness for Wilson: the WNBA has yet to have a star that truly transcends rooting interests, much like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James were able to do on the men's level. Wilson is inching closer toward such a status through her way to truly define the middle initial in "MVP," even with well-regarded talents like Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young still flanking her.
Though Wilson did pen one of the darker chapters in Liberty history—the 2023 Finals, which saw her guide a depleted Vegas group to its victory—New Yorkers have shown their respect to the newly-crowned four-time MVP. It might be a reach, but some of the seafoam faithful might well be compelled to pull for Sabrina Ionescu's co-star in a variety of amusing advertisements for CarMax. There would also be something relatively sweet about being the last team to get the best of Wilson, as the Aces were busted by New York in the semifinals on last year's championship trek.
Haters Gonna Hate: The rise of the Lynx perhaps makes it somewhat easy to forget just how spicy the Liberty-Aces could get. There was a reason, after all, why the league had New York open its championship defense against the Aces, and it'd hardly be a surprise to see the Liberty made the trip out to Sin City when next finally opens up, should Las Vegas close the deal again.
Part of that is the departure of some of the more notable instigators in the rivalry: Kelsey Plum, who infamously claimed that the Liberty didn't "care about each other" now resides in Los Angeles, for example. This time around, by the time Vegas got its groove back, the Liberty had been picked apart by medical woes.
Nonetheless, the last thing Liberty fans would likely want is further ammunition for Vegas fans who want to claim that Wilson has matched, or even surpassed, the impact of local favorites like Stewart. While there might still be a soft spot for Hammon and Stokes, the duo is distanced enough from the Brooklyn era that Liberty fans may be more than comfortable pulling for Vegas' downfall.
The Mercury
Team: Phoenix Mercury
Last Championship: 2014
Ex-New Yorkers: Sami Whitcomb
Root, Root, Root: There's a rather obvious reason why Liberty fans would rather not see the 2025 Phoenix Mercury succeed, but we'll get to that in a minute.
The postseason has been a breakthrough of sorts for tenured sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb, who has sustained Phoenix's Finals run to the tune of clutch sinks that conventional wisdom would've given to triple-double queen Alyssa Thomas or American Olympic heroine Kahleah Copper. Whitcomb was part of the dawn of the Liberty's Brooklyn era, playing two seasons alongside Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to tip off an active playoff streak at five straight showings.
Phoenix winning would also allow the Liberty to keep things in the family: the Mercury also boast the talents of Satou Sabally, the older sister of metropolitan depth star and previous Finals heroine Nyara. Satou attended the team's championship parade that went through Lower Manhattan last fall and it stands to reason that Nyara would make the trip to the desert if Phoenix prevails.
Haters Gonna Hate: For those not up to date on current events, or even just anyone who missed the subtle hint in the prior portion, feel free to catch up through our coverage on the recent postseason tilt between the Liberty and Mercury, one that—spoiler alert—ended with Phoenix ending the first metropolitan championship defense.
It was a defeat that has already led to the most radical of change one can make in this era of roster uncertainty, as the Liberty moved on from head coach Sandy Brondello less than a year after she hoisted the WNBA Finals trophy at Brooklyn's midcourt emblem. Brondello enthusiasts will have a particular grudge against Phoenix, one of her prior WNBA employers, as if the tension wasn't already bubbling thanks to what transpired on the bracket.
Making things even more raw for the Liberty is the fact that Mercury reps had some choice words for a Barclays Center crowd they neutralized during the victory they earned in Game 2 of the recent series.
The Verdict: Mercury
Skipping these from any women's basketball perspective would likely be ill-advised, as this showdown stands as a last hurrah of sorts before contentious labor discussions commence. Pulling for the Mercury in this situation may make the final toast go down just a little bit easier.
When it comes to legacy discussions, the Liberty can perhaps better survive a Phoenix victory over that of Las Vegas. This era, begun in 2023 when the Liberty made their play at Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, is perhaps partly defined by New York and Vegas' arms race, one where the latter can gain the undeniable edge with another championship with second title in this three-year stretch.
In addition to the macabre sense of pride potentially brought about by losing to the team that won it all, keeping it in the (Sabally) family will also be temptation enough for seafoam to temporarily done orange and purple, painful as it may be.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.